Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Perseid meteor shower
References
Images
Perseid meteor shower
Britannica AI Icon

Perseid meteor shower

astronomy
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Perseid meteor shower
Perseid meteor shower Intense meteor outburst (yellow streaks) during the Perseid meteor shower of August 1995. All of the meteors appear to be emerging from a single point in the sky (to the left and outside the image), called the radiant of the shower.

The Perseid meteor shower is an annual astronomical event visible in the Northern Hemisphere from July 17 to August 24, with peak activity around August 12 and 13. This shower occurs when Earth passes through the debris trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. As Earth encounters these dust particles, they burn up in the atmosphere, creating streaks of light. The meteors appear to originate from a point in the constellation Perseus, giving the shower its name. While up to 75 meteors per hour may be visible at its peak, a bright Moon can reduce visibility to only the brightest meteors. The best way to view the Perseids is with the naked eye from a dark location, looking northeast.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. Perseid Meteor Shower
  2. Perseid Meteor Shower: Top Questions

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.